


Take A Hint

by IrxnStrxnge



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Awkward Flirting? you bet, Flirting, Fluff, Honestly he has no clue, Kissing, M/M, Misunderstandings, Oblivous Stephen Strange, Tony Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, irondad? kinda, is he desperate? a bit yes, it's tony after all, listen I tried my best, peter parker being a dork, wong being a good friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2018-09-12
Packaged: 2019-07-07 21:12:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15916347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IrxnStrxnge/pseuds/IrxnStrxnge
Summary: Ever since he's met Stephen Strange, Tony has been trying his best to get friendly with him. Well, more than friendly. Too bad that the Sorcerer Supreme seems to be completely clueless when it comes to Tony's subtle (or not so subtle) attempts to show him.Thank god that Wong catches on and decides to intervene before Tony makes a complete fool of himself. After all, Stephen shouldn't be alone forever.





	1. Here we go again.

**Author's Note:**

> So, this kinda just... happened. Fluff really isn't my strength but I actually think it turned out fine so I'm posting it. I hope you'll enjoy it! It was certainly a lot of fun to write.

Tony casually swung the door to the New Yorker Sanctum open, lazily strolling into the giant entrance hall, hands in pockets. “Good afternoon, Wong.”, he greeted the grumpy sorcerer as soon as he spotted him sitting on the couch near the entrance. 

That was where he usually lingered, at least every time Tony visited. In conclusion, he sat there very, very often, book in hand and a stern look on his face. He waited for the X-files episode regarding the theory if the man ever smiled.    
  
So far, there wasn’t much evidence to go by. 

“Ah.”, Wong exclaimed softly without taking his eyes off the old drawings. “Here to see The Sorcerer Supreme yet again, Mister Stark?” He calmly turned a page. Without moving his hands, of course. All sorcerers were massive show-offs.   

He nodded, a big smirk already spreading out on his face. “You bet I am. Is he upstairs?” He really didn’t need to wait for an answer on that question. Stephen was always upstairs, lost in some weird sorcerer business.    
  
Tony didn’t understand anything about The Mystic Arts but that probably had to do with the fact that he really couldn’t care less about listening to Stephen whenever he was talking about it.    
  
Creepily staring while completely losing sense of what was real, that sounded more like him. He wasn’t to blame that they had decided to have the sorcerers be represented by the most beautiful man Tony had ever seen. 

Which person with even the smallest bit of common sense couldn’t get lost in those eyes and that voice? The answer was none. 

“What might it be that brings you to our doors this time?” He stopped halfway up the stairs, slightly turning towards the source of the bored voice. “Another lesson about the history of the cosmos? The seventh one now, if I remember correctly. Or maybe it’s something truly important. A broken light bulb perhaps?”

Tony chuckled and shrugged. “If he’d just repair it I wouldn’t have to buy a new one.”

“You are the richest person on this planet.”

“Now, that isn’t really true. I know a rather handsome King of Wakanda who could easily buy me and all my belongings.” He gave Wong a wink even though he hadn’t looked up once. 

His mood only lifted more when he heard him mumble “So could Stephen with an invitation for a cheap cup of coffee.” under his breath. Well, he wasn’t wrong. Right on spot, the more he thought about it.

Once he arrived upstairs he immediately started looking for the man in question. “Stephen? Is your nose buried behind a book again?” His brows furrowed when he didn’t spot him in his favourite chair.

That was odd. He usually was studying his weird magic there. Well, unless he-

“Good afternoon, Anthony.” 

Tony barely suppressed a scream as he whipped around to come face to face with Stephen. Or half a Stephen since he was slightly transparent. And flying. And glowing.  

“You have to stop that! I have a weak heart, Stephen.”, he breathed out after he caught himself. “What is the purpose of-” He made a vague gesture towards his floating body. “This?”

The see-through sorcerer waved him off. “I told you a thousand times by now. It’s to improve my astral projection skills. It requires training.” Then, he flew right through Tony, ignoring the shocked and slightly disgusted cry his action brought with it. 

“Grow up, Anthony. I don’t leave any traces.” He started making his way towards a closed door at the end of the antiques-filled room. “Come on, my body is in there.”

“No physical traces, at least, no. When it comes to mental ones though...”, Tony pressed out between his teeth. “You know, that could actually scar people for life, you just zooming through them like this.” And yet, he ended up following Stephen right away. That was the reason he was here, after all.

“You fight against potentially world-ending disaster every month. I think you can take me and my jokes.” He waited in front of the door until Tony had caught up to him. “Don’t mind the mess in there. We don’t have the time to clean. Or the money for personal.”

He did and his place still looked absolutely appalling. 

“If you’d finally come over to my place you’d see that-” He walked face first into the closed door thanks to Stephen not bothering to open it when he had entered the room seconds before him. “Thanks for that.”, he hissed while rubbing his bruised nose.

From inside the room, he heard a quiet and deep chuckle; music to his ears and soothing the pain in an instant. His ego was another matter though but that could wait. He opened the door and-

He’d never think about his lab as messy again. Good lord, the place was a nightmare. All the mechanical parts had simply been replaced by old books and painting, by scrolls and by what looked like it might have his origin in ancient Egypt. 

Pepper would go insane if she saw that. There wasn’t one cleaned up spot. You could sit nowhere besides the bed Stephen was currently occupying. His body, at least. Astral projection Stephen was still floating in the middle of the room, smirking at him.    
  
“You alright, there? Need a tissue perhaps?” 

Tony smiled and flipped him off. “Get back in your body so I can return the favour.” Not that he’d actually go through with his threat. He wasn’t that stupid. “What happened here?”, he asked just as Stephen closed his eyes. “Did you and Wong have a little row and decided to settle it by throwing books at each other?”

“Quiet.”, the sorcerer warned. “I have to concentrate.” Tony saw him take a deep breath and in the next second the body on the bed breathed out. Didn’t look too hard in his eyes but then again, he had no idea about any of this. 

“Seems like you have the hang of it.”, he remarked as he watched Stephen standing up and stretching his legs. “But I guess there is always room to improve.” That was something he knew everything about. Mark 75 was currently in progress back at the Avengers facility. 

But he had a massive problem and probably,  _ definitely _ , needed a therapy. 

“There is. Especially when you are the Sorcerer Supreme. I can never stop learning.” He whistled loudly towards the door. “Stay away from the entrance.”, he told Tony when he saw the confused expression on his face.

“Why should I-” The rest of the question was directed into the pile of books he landed in face first. “Fuck.” He should have known. The damn cloak was never far away from his owner. He should have been suspicious the moment he didn’t see it rest on Stephens’ shoulders. 

Those things happen when you’re too busy staring at his face. 

“I warned you.”, Stephen justified himself from above. “You should have moved.” He reached out his hand for Tony to take it, pulling him up with ease. “How may I help you today, Anthony?”, he asked while straightening his clothes, elegant fingers sliding over blue and red fabric. 

He was truly lost. 

“I need-” Well, damn. The excuse had been right on his mind before he had entered the Sanctum. Where was it now? Lost somewhere in the sapphires which were Stephens’ eyes. Who could blame him?

“Yes?” Thank god the Sorcerer was already preoccupied with one of the thousand books in his ‘bedroom’ and didn’t bother paying attention to the now stammering Tony. 

“I just had a question.”

“Hm?”, Stephen mumbled absentmindedly, starting to make his way over the massive piles of paper and towards a shelf on the other side of the room. Tony was surprised that there were actually books stocked inside of it. Where did this man get so many books from?

“Yeah, you see…” He bit his bottom lip in concentration, trying to remember his old excuse or at least to come up with a decent new one instead. It was to no avail. 

“Oh, excuse me. Did you say something?” Stephen turned away from the shelf and regarded him for a split second, raising an eyebrow in question. When Tony failed to answer yet again, he sighed and focused his attention back on the new book in his hand. 

“I was wondering if you had any information…”

“Hm?” 

“About the Chitauri?” That didn’t sound convincing enough. “About their origin, perhaps? Their weaknesses?” He cocked his head to the side and put on his best innocent face. Stephen looked up from his occupation. 

“The Chitauri?”, he questioned him. “Why would you want to know about them?” His eyes grew slightly bigger, one hand balling into a fist. “Are they coming? I didn’t notice anything of their return.”

Tony quickly shook his head to dispose of his worries. “No, I just want to be thorough if they ever decide to actually return. Getting into the fight prepared already seals half the deal, don’t you think?” Now, he was laying it on a bit too thick and of course, the sorcerer didn’t miss it.

“ _ Getting into the fight prepared already seals half the deal? _ ”, he repeated with a snort. “Who are you and what have you done to Anthony?” 

Tony rolled his eyes. “Very funny. Can you help me or not?” He was embarrassing himself. Next time he’d definitely write his excuse down. “Because otherwise, I can just leave.” There was nothing in the world he’d rather not do. 

“You really can’t take a joke today, hm?”, Stephen teased with a smirk.    
  
“I’m just not used to it.”, Tony snapped back at him immediately. “Where is this mysterious grumpy persona of yours?” To be fair, he wasn’t quite as bad as Wong when it came to looking like a sad monk but it was close.    
  
Stephen shrugged slightly and walked past him. “I’ve had a nice breakfast, I guess. Come along, Wong will know if we have any of the information you are searching for.” 

They made their way back into the main room, Tony trailing behind the sorcerer with a sheepish grin on his face. He knew that he should go to Wong whenever he had questions regarding writings and books. Hell, Stephen told him so every time he asked for one. 

Surely, he had caught on by now.    
  
“I don’t know how often I have to tell you this until it gets into your thick skull, Anthony, but next time you can just go to Wong with a problem like that.”

Apparently not. 

“Other than some people,” He turned his head and gave him a look. “I actually have stuff to do.” Master of The Mystic Arts, Sorcerer Supreme, a man with a PhD and an M.D (yes, Tony had researched him and no, he wasn’t a creep) and he still didn’t get the fucking clue. 

“I’ll keep that in mind, next time I come here.” He wouldn’t. “But in my defence, your best buddy is kind of scary. Are you constantly giving him a hard time or why does he always looks like he has just bitten into a lemon?”

“Believe it or not but we sorcerers do have a lot of weight on our shoulders.”, Stephen explained while leading Tony downstairs. “And Wong in particular also has the job to watch over the library back at Kamar-Taj.”

Tony being the carefree and happy guy he was, of course, had no idea about the pressure a job could bring upon oneself. Iron Man was nothing but a nice hobby. But he understood Stephens point of view, in his eyes he was constantly sneaking around his home. It probably looked like he had run out of stuff to do.

“Alright, Dumbledore. Noted.” He stopped when Stephen whipped around, brows furrowed in anger.    
  
“I’m warning you. I told you not to call me that, douchebag.”, he growled with that deep voice of his which made Tony's’ knees weak, almost sending him to the floor. He quickly lifted his hands to calm his outburst.

“Okay, fine. I’ll stop.” It had taken him months to finally get the sorcerer to call him Anthony. While he’d prefer it to be Tony or maybe darling or honey it was better than Mr Stark or, well, douchebag. “It was supposed to be a joke.”

Stephen huffed. “I imagine a lot of people tell you how unfunny you are but I won’t miss out on rubbing it in your face again.” With that, he resumed making his way towards the still sitting Wong, who looked everything but surprised to see the two once he noticed them approaching.

“What is it, Stephen?”, he asked, closing the book in his hand and setting it on the table in front of him. “Does Mister Stark require our services yet again?” He glanced briefly at Tony, eyes bored and unamused, perfectly normal. 

“He does, Wong.” Stephen quickly explained the situation, missing the disbelieving looks the other sorcerer kept on giving him and Tony. It was hilarious. 

“So, Mister Stark here…”, Wong started to repeat once Stephen had finished. “Is in need of a book about the Chitauri in order to study them?” If it wouldn’t have raised too many questioned, Tony would have taken a picture of his face. 

He was in for a ride. 


	2. Can't you see? Everyone else can...

“How long do you think he’s gonna take to get back?”, Tony asked while making himself comfortable on the couch next to a clearly annoyed Stephen. He left way too little space between them, totally by accident, their legs almost brushing.   
  
Stephen gave him the raised eyebrow look as soon as he noticed the intrusion into his personal space. “Why not go ahead and sit on my lap while you’re at it?”, he huffed, moving away and leaving a big gap between their bodies.   
  
Tony wanted to go through with his suggestion just to piss him off. Not because that had been dreaming of his for far too long. He wasn’t a weirdo. Really, he wasn’t.

The sorcerer rubbed his hands together, impatiently waiting for his friend's return. It hadn’t even been 5 minutes. Tony rolled his eyes at the childish behaviour. He wasn’t the worst person to be around. Hell, he was fucking delightful.   
  
The other man just had to see it.

“I’m not sure how to read the constant switches of your mood.”, he started teasing after another moment of tensed silence. “Currently on your cycle?” Stephen closed his eyes, audibly inhaling through his nose just as he had earlier in his astral state.

“Before you showed up I was in the middle of training and it was going rather well if I might add. And then-” His eyes flung open and he sneered at Tony. “You stroll in here like you do every day and interrupt me.”

Tony bit the inside of his cheeks and started to softly tap his fingers against his knees. “I’m sorry, Stephen. I didn’t mean to get in the way of your own studies.” He really didn’t but his logic along with his impulse control (which always had been a bit weak if he was being honest) seemed to automatically turn themselves off whenever he thought about the sorcerer.

Stephen waved his apology off. “Nevermind. I could always just decline your questions.” He took a moment to look at Tony, eyes narrowing slightly, little wrinkles in the corner framing his blue-green pools and making it look like a painting. “I have a question for you in return though.”

“Bring it on.”, Tony encouraged him, thrilled to finally have built up a conversation. “I’m all yours.” A bit too thrilled then.

“Are you really requiring my help all the time or is there another reason?”, he asked, suspicion lacing his voice and making Tony tense. Oh, oh. It was ride or die now.   
  
“If you really want to know-”, he started explaining just to be cut off immediately.

“Of course I want to know. Otherwise, I wouldn't have asked.”

Tony sighed and shook his head. “It’s called teasing, Stephen. Have you lost all knowledge of human interaction during your time abroad?” The sorcerer glared at him with a fierce passion.

“I see.” His voice was dull. “So this is it?”

Tony’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “I don’t follow.”

Stephen pushed himself off the couch. “You are just having a go at me, do you?” He could see his shaking hands balling into fists at his sides, almost to the point of vibrating. “Do you know how much time you have stolen from me just for a stupid joke?”

Tony stared at him, eyes wide opened in shock. Was he serious? “Stephen, that’s not why I-”

“I don’t want to hear it, Anthony.”, the tall man snapped at him. “Just get out.” He was about to storm towards the door to throw him out when a portal appeared in front of both of them, revealing a confused Wong.

“I have the book?”, he started, holding the object of desire up for them to see but Stephen waved him off.   
  
“No need for that anymore. Turns out Anthony doesn’t need the book after all.” Wong’s eyes grew big at his words.

“So you finally caught on?” Tony almost choked on his spit as soon as the words left the grumpy man’s mouth. “Was about time, Stephen. He couldn’t have made it more obvious, really.”

Tony’s eyes darted towards the sorcerer supreme. Now, he’d really have to see-  
  
“So you also were in on the joke?”, Stephen hissed in disbelief, cheeks turning slightly red in the process. He couldn’t be fucking serious-  “Honestly, what is wrong with the two of you? I have important studies to do.”

By god, he actually was.

Wong didn’t seem to follow at all, judging by the look on his face. “On the joke? What joke?” He glanced at Tony for a moment, waiting for an answer but he just shrugged in return. He honestly was all out of options by this point.   
  
“I see.”, Wong answered at last. “Mister Stark, would you be so kind and leave us alone for a moment? There is something I want to discuss with the sorcerer supreme.” He handed him the heavy book. “Here, just in case you need it.”

Tony dared one last glance at Stephen, who actually didn’t look so insulted any more, just deeply annoyed. He figured it would be the perfect time for a bride smirk.

“I’ll bring the book back tomorrow then.” Before the taller man had the chance to snap at him yet again, he turned towards the exit, throwing one last wink at him. “I know you can’t stand the days where I don’t visit.”

He totally didn’t hear the “Douchebag.” when he made his way onto the busy streets of New York.

 

* * *

 

He was about to enter the Stark Tower when he heard it, the slightly-too-high voice of a way too excited young man. “Mister Stark! Mister Stark, there you are! I have been waiting all morning for you!”

Peter Parker stumbled towards him, his backpack hanging loosely down his shoulder. Tony watched him approach, deep in thought. “All morning? Weren’t you in school?” He couldn’t believe that. Peter was an excellent student.

The teenager came to a halt in front of him (almost having crushed into him actually) and cocked his head to the side. “It’s… saturday, Mister Stark. You offered to help me with my physics project, remember?”

Then, Tony remembered. “Oh, I did promise you that, didn’t I?” He checked his non-existent clock. “And we were supposed to meet at-”

“8:00 a.m, yes.” Peter pouted, making himself look younger than he actually was. “And now it’s 11:00 a.m.” He threw an accusing glance at him but Tony saw that it wasn’t serious. The kid was way too forgiving, especially with him.

“I’m so sorry, Pete. I completely forgot about our meeting, to be honest.” He held up the massive book for him to see. “I was busy with research.”

The young man's’ eyes grew big and he immediately reached for it. “That looks so old!” Tony was worried about handing the book to him for a second. It was quite heavy… then he remembered that Peter had superhuman strength.

“I guess it is. Come on, you’ve waited long enough. Let’s go upstairs.” He resumed his walk towards the Stark Tower, this time with Peter strolling after him. “Again, kid, I’m sorry.”

“Oh, it’s alright!”, he told him happily. “I called May after you failed to show up and she picked me up. We got hotdogs! She brought me back here 30 minutes ago.”

“Hotdogs for breakfast? Really?”

“They are really healthy actually.”

“No, they’re not.”

Peter sighed. “Fine, they are not but they are tasty and May said I deserved a treat.” As soon as they arrived at his lab he fumbled with his backpack until he managed to pull a crumpled piece paper out of it. “Look! I had the best math test in my whole class.”

Tony barely managed to suppress the smile which so badly wanted to break out on his face. He, however, gave him a quick pat on the shoulder. “Nice job, kid.” The thrilled smile on the boys face made his heart jump.

“Now, where did you put that old book? If I lose it I’m a dead man.” He wasn’t kidding. After Stephen’s mood today he shouldn’t piss him off more than necessary. Not even Wong could stop him. Well, brave of him to assume that Wong wouldn’t actually join his friend. He was the one in charge of the library at Kamar-Taj.

Peter stared at him in question but pointed at one of the many packed work tables in the room. “There it is. You mean it isn’t yours?”

“No, Pete. It’s not. It belongs to Dumbledore. He will abra kadabra me if I damage it.”

“It’s avada kedavra.”

“Sorry?” He looked at Peter who was mumbling to himself, head slightly turned away from him.   
  
“It’s avada kedavra.”, he repeated. “That’s how the killing curse is called but I think he would actually start with the cruciatus, to be honest. I mean that’s what I’d do-”

“Pete, Harry Potter doesn’t exist. You know that right?”, Tony interrupted him. He shouldn’t have started with this- what did Peter call it?- fandom talk? He always ended up confused after.

“But you just said that the book belongs-”

“It was a joke. It belongs to Stephen and Wong.”, he explained while starting to clean up one of the tables. They had to work somewhere after all. He whipped around when he heard the loud groan.

“So, _that’s_ why you were gone all morning!”, Peter exclaimed and let himself fall into the soft chair Tony had bought for him a while back. The kid had the unhealthy habit of falling asleep in his workshop and Tony wanted that he at least had some sort of cushion when he did so from now on.

“I should have known.” He smirked and wiggled his eyebrows. “How did it go?”, he asked in a sly voice.

Tony crossed his arms in front of the chest. “What does that mean now?”

Peter let out a little disbelieving laugh. “I just- I mean it’s no secret that you-” He gestured at him.   
  
“That I what?”

“You’re _pining_ , Mister Stark.”, the young man explained with a soft smile.

Tony bit the inside of his cheek. “I’m... what?” And just like that, Peter looked like a deer caught in headlights

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to imply anything, Sir. Please, don’t make me leave. I don’t wanna go!” Tony had to roll his eyes at the over-dramatic teenager. What was it with this generation?

“It’s okay, kid. Seems like everyone knows at this point.” He grimaced. “Or almost everyone…”, he grumbled darkly. He could see Peter trying to work out in his mind what he meant by that. 

As soon as he heard the soft gasp Tony knew that he had figured it out.

“You mean- _he_ doesn’t know?” The young man stared at him with big eyes. “How can’t he know, Mister Stark!? You couldn’t make it more obvious!” Tony agreed, he was on the edge of getting desperate with his advances.

Hell, who was he kidding? He was long gone.

Peter had gone uncharacteristically quiet, eyes out of focus and staring into the distance, head resting on one hand. Tony was surprised at how old it made him look, how mature. Sometimes it was really hard to keep in mind that he wasn’t even 18.

“That might sound stupid now…”, he hesitantly said after a while. Tony doubted it. “But why not, you know, just ask him out?” Peter leaned back in the chair, eyes clear now and sparkling with interest. “Like ‘Hey, I really like you. Wanna get some coffee’?”

Tony rolled his eyes. Kids these days, they didn’t understand. He was about to explain it to him but Spider Boy located a pair of his glasses on the table and excitedly reached for them, letting out a little yelp in the process.

“Wait! I can do it better!” Tony had to suppress the smile yet again while watching the young man with all his energy. “Heeeey,”, he started again, this time with the glasses on. “I’m Iron Man, wanna get some coffee? I can buy the whole shop so it’s as many free drinks for us as you want.”

The genius sighed and sat down next to him. This wouldn’t go away any time soon. He would just have to make the best of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, I have no idea how Peter sneaked into this but welp, can't change it now. I hope you like it!


	3. We have reached the point of physical damage, Stephen.

A whole 2 days passed before Tony was getting ready to leave for the Sanctum again. After all, he had a book to return. That was all, definitely. Too bad that the book didn’t really help. He would need another one.

He entered the Sanctum, ready to greet Wong on the couch again. He’d probably have to endure another snarky remark-

Tony stopped.

Wong wasn’t there. Even worse, the usually really comfortable couch was in ruins. Christ, it looked like a lion had attacked it. A quick look around confirmed his fear, the whole Sanctum was a mess. Tony’s heart skipped a beat. _Stephen._

“Stephen?”, he vaguely called out. No one answered. “Stephen.”, he tried again. Silence. Slowly, he approached the stairs. There was something, something distinctive. He recognized it as… a grunt. A painful grunt.

Tony lost it.   
  
“Stephen!”, he screamed while practically flying up the stairs, taking 3 steps at a time. It wasn’t that he doubted the sorcerer's power but he knew that everyone had a breaking point. He was scared of what he might find upstairs.

Rightly so.

A nightmare awaited him. He wasn’t sure if anything was still intact, broken pieces and bits were covering the floor, transforming it into a minefield. He froze when he spotted - in the middle of a giant pile of broken glass - a pool of blood.

“Stephen?!”, he hauled while making his way to the back, desperate to find him. “Where are you?” He needed an answer, he needed to know that he was.. not okay.. but alive.

“Tony?”, finally came the quiet question. Tony wanted to scream in joy, at least until he spotted the origin of the voice.

Stephen Strange was half-hidden under what might have been a display case at some point, head completely buried. He quickly made his way over to the spot and crouched down in front of him, carefully removing any obstacle from the sorcerer's face.

He looked like a trainwreck. There were cuts and bruises everywhere, an especially nasty one under his left eye. Well, that explained the pile of blood earlier. He’d clearly been shoved into glass.

And punched.

Tony’s blood started to boil. “What happened to you?”, he asked, voice soft and encouraging. Given any other situations, the beaten up man would have made fun of him for sounding so whiny. But right now, he seemed to welcome the attention, a strange gleam appearing in his beautiful eyes.

It shouldn’t be possible to still look that good after having gotten his ass kicked.

The tall man tried to lift his hand and dismiss the situation with a typical wave but got interrupted by Tony seizing him by the shoulders.

“Don’t you dare to tell me now that you are fine. You aren’t fine, Stephen. You look like a mess.” Without thinking about what he was doing, he lifted a hand to the sorcerer's face and gently pushed a lonely curl out of it.

They both froze. Tony wanted to slap himself. He was such an idiot. Coughing a bit too loudly, he lowered his hand again. “Well, yeah.. let’s um.. let’s get you up.” With some difficulty, he managed to drag Stephen into his room.

Thankfully, his bedroom was the only place which didn’t fall victim to the destruction. After Tony sat him down on his bed, back cushioned with some pillows, he took a chair and took the place opposite him.   
  
“Now, do you need me to call a doctor?” Most of the injuries looked trivial, none of the cuts were too deep - even the slightly troubling cut under the eye - but Tony wasn’t going to risk anything. Stephen was a doctor, well, had been before all the magic stuff started. He knew what would have to be done.

“No. I am fine, Anthony.” There it was again. Anthony. He had been Tony a few minutes back. The genius shook his head. This wasn’t the time, Stephen was wounded.

“I don’t really believe you but I’ll let it pass for the moment.” There were way too many questions floating inside of his head but one had to be answered straight away. “Are they still here?”

Stephen looked at him in confusion for a moment before catching on. “Uhm, no.” He wiped some blood off his cheek which highlighted his perfect cheekbones way too much. “It was just a basic attack, nothing special. Some low-level demon.”

Tony’s eyebrows shot up. “Stephen, you want to tell me that a low-level demon managed this kind of destruction? One little breeze and the house will break down. Not to mention what it did to you.”

The sorcerer's jaw twitched, a clear sign of annoyance. He didn’t mean to offend him with his comment, he was genuinely confused. “I didn’t mean to- I just. I have never seen you so beaten down.”

Tony frowned, only now realizing that they were completely alone. “Where is Wong?” For a second he panicked but then again, Stephen was calm and collected. Nothing happened to him, then.

“Wong is at the Kamar-Taj.”, he answered. “Along with the Cloak of Levitation.” That answered one of Tony’s unspoken questions. The damn thing might be a pain in the ass but there was no denying it was very loyal and protective of its… owner? He wasn’t sure.

“He wanted to do some research. Couldn’t have picked a worse time I guess.” Stephen sighed. “This shouldn’t have happened. He is going to kill me.”

Tony shook his head in disagreement. “This shouldn’t be your main concern. The most important aspect is that you are fine.” The sorcerer tilted his head to the sight, a small smile finally appearing on his bruised face.

“Tony Stark putting one’s health over everything else? Maybe the demon actually pulled me into a different universe.”, he softly teased him. Tony only shrugged in return.

“Of course, as long as it isn’t my health.” He almost flinched. It had intended to be funny but actually hit way too close to home. “You make it sound like I don’t care about the people.”   
  
Stephen made a face. “I’m sorry, Anthony. I know that it isn’t true.” He ran a hand through his messy hair, trying to tame it and failing completely. “And you should really take better care of yourself.”

Now it was Tony’s turn to wave him off. “This isn’t about me. How about you contact Wong?” This conversation was starting to take a rather bad turn. “I’d do it but I have no idea how.”

He watched with distaste as the other man shook his head, dismissing the idea. “I want him to come back to at least a somehow respectable Sanctum.” He carefully stretched his sore muscles. “I guess I gotta start cleaning up-”

“We aren’t finished, Houdini.”, Tony interrupted him, ignoring the angry look he received. “I won’t leave until you tell me how you ended up buried under ruins. You are one of the best fighters I have ever met.”

The sorcerer dropped his head, almost looking like he was ashamed. The genius frowned, that was uncommon.   
  
“The demon- it just caught me off-guard. That is all.”, he answered at last. “I managed to send it back to where it came from though. Along with a reminder why you don’t play games with the Sorcerer Supreme.”

“It caught you… off guard?” Tony let out a disbelieving laugh. “Where the hell were you in your head to not notice a _demon_ sneaking up on you?” He had never heard something more out of character.

Stephen pouted- making him look even cuter than he normally was- and huffed. “You have no right to critique me since you are the exact damn reason, To-” He stopped mid-sentence, eyes growing big and mouth opened, his names still on the edge of his lips.

Well, this was certainly interesting. He had no idea what he actually meant by that but it might play out nicely. “I am the reason you were distracted?”, he questioned with a big smirk. “What does that mean now?”

Oh, how lovely it was to watch his face turn bright red. He had never seen that before, it probably wasn’t a common occurrence but a glorious one, no doubt. Tony was absolutely sold on the look.

Stephen made the attempt to stand up and leave him behind but the genius quickly jumped up and blocked his way. “Not a chance, Stephen.” He hoped he wouldn’t turn transparent again. There was nothing he could do to stop him then.

“It might be better for you to leave now-”

“No, let’s talk about this for a second. What did you think about?” Maybe he was being an annoying little prick right now but he couldn’t care less. This was by far the best thing that happened this week. He was going to relish in it.

The sorcerer bit the inside of his cheek, piercing Tony with his… green? blue? perfect - that was it - eyes. “It’s probably nothing. Wong just said something earlier and I thought-” He stopped, shaking his head. “Nevermind. I don’t know what I thought about.”

He tried once again to move past him and into the ruined main room and this time Tony allowed him to but followed close behind. “Sure you don’t have a concussion?” He was really starting to get worried at this point.   
  
Stephen was acting unbelievably weird. It wasn’t anything like him.

“Do you honestly think I couldn’t detect a concussion if I had one?”, came the dry answer. “No one ever seems to believe that the ‘Doctor’ isn’t just a fancy nickname I adapted.” Tony almost cringed at that.   
  
He remembered Peter’s and Stephen’s first meeting. It had come close to a catastrophe when the young man stubbornly refused to believe that the sorcerer actually had been a respected and well-known neurosurgeon.   
  
The face he had made as soon as he realised his mistake had made up for all of it though.

“I do believe you, Stephen. Just… thinking about me? I don’t see why you would-”  
  
“I think about you a lot, you know.”

Tony had been so perplexed by Stephen’s words that he didn’t notice him stopping midway through the room and ran straight into him. “What the-” He stared at a beautifully dishevelled back of his head.

Stephen refused to turn around.

“Do you wanna talk about it?”, he started with some hesitation, still trying to wrap around what was actually happening at the moment. The defeated sigh he heard made his stomach drop.

“Wong isn’t at the Kamar-Taj because he is doing research.”

Tony huffed. “Alright and you can tell me why you lied about that after we sat down somewhere. Since this place is a mess I’d suggest we go to mine.” That would be the first time Stephen would ever be there. He would have preferred for the circumstances to be better but what could one do?

For a moment, it looked like Stephen might reject the offer, having turned around and staring at him with a more than displeased look but then his head dropped and he nodded weakly. “Fine.” He straightened up a bit. “But we go there via portal.”

Tony frowned. “Do you even know where-”

“Of course.”, Stephen interrupted him. “Which one is the question though? The one in New York or perhaps the isolated one in the middle on Tristan de Cunha? Beautiful place, by the way.” That rendered him speechless. He had never told anyone about that house.   
  
It wasn’t even a real house, more like a little lodge in the middle of green. But it was peaceful and offered him shelter whenever things got too much.

“Okay, how the hell did you know about that? There are like 200 people currently living there, you don’t wanna tell me now that you-”

“I sometimes follow you when I notice that you are on edge to make sure you aren’t going to do anything stupid.” Well, at least he had the grace to look mildly ashamed. Tony would have been angry if the gesture didn’t actually make him feel safer, more cared about. That, and the fact that he had done some research himself when all this had started-

“I guess you know where to go then.” He made a gesture towards some free space. “By all means, lead the way. It will be a lot more comfortable than my more than just a bit illegal plane that flies me there.” The damn island didn’t even have an airport and he wouldn’t torture himself with that 7 days long boat ride.

Stephen chuckled quietly, a dark and beautiful sound. “I guess you're right. Hold on.” And then, with the most fluent hand movements Tony had ever seen, he conjured a massive portal. It rendered him speechless yet again.   
  
Right in front of him, on the other side, was his little hut in all its glory, totally lonely and isolated. A dream. “This is amazing.”, he quietly whispered before stepping through the orange ring.

He was met with a cold but refreshing breeze. Magnificent. His eyes closed immediately. Every time he came here he remembered once again why it was so hard to leave this place behind.

But he’d never be able to retire here. The world would never stop needing - not him - but Iron Man and he could never live with himself if he ignored that for his own personal benefit.

And for some reason, as he watched the tall man following him through the portal and closing it swiftly after stepping through it, he was pretty sure that this time it would be especially hard to leave it all behind yet again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was this close to actually turning angsty but I think I managed to recover. I hope so at least. Gotta wait for the next chapter to find out.


	4. You could have said that sooner.

“So,”, Tony muttered while throwing another piece of wood into the fireplace, feeding the flames and making them crack loudly. “What was that stuff with Wong not actually doing research?” He turned towards Stephen who was making himself comfortable on the soft couch in the middle of the room. 

He fit way too perfectly into his room, into his lodge, into his life. He suppressed the urge to groan at his foolish behaviour. Who was he, a 17 lovesick schoolboy? Worse, apparently.    
  
Against Stephen’s objection, he had gotten the emergency medical-kit and actually patched him up as good as he could. It looked a bit wild and messy but it should be sufficient. At least this way he wouldn’t get blood on his expensive couch. 

He settled down next to the sorcerer, leaving a respectable distance between them and almost choking on his spit when Stephen slid closer to him. This was certainly unexpected but very welcomed.    
  
“Yes, about that. Listen, Tony, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to lie to you but-” 

Tony raised his hand. “It’s fine. Just tell me why you did it.” He grinned at him. “And where Wong actually is.” 

Stephen scratched the back of his neck with a shaking hand. Weird, it had been fine just a few minutes back. “Well, he is at the Kamar-Taj like I said. The cloak as well but not because of research. He... “ His voice died. “He wanted- He told me-” And gone it was again.

“Just tell me, Stephen. It’s fine.”, Tony encouraged him. “I doubt it will be that bad.” Compared to what he had said in his life so far it really couldn’t get much worse. At least not in his imagination. 

“He just wanted us to talk. Alone.”, the sorcerer finished, at last, refusing to look Tony in the eyes and instead staring at the less than boring carpet. “To clarify some things.” 

“Clarify things?”, Tony carefully asked, pretending not to know what he was talking about. 

“For example, why you visit the Sanctum every day even though you aren’t even remotely interested in The Mystic Arts.”    
  
“Oh.” Great input there. Well done. He didn’t seem able to come up with anything else though. It honestly didn’t surprise him. Clear sentences were always hard to form in Stephen’s presence. It was just the lingering effect he had on him.

“He gave me quite an interesting explanation, you know.”, the sorcerer softly mused. “You know, why you always visit.” Tony had actually never heard him use that tone with him before, a strange mix between smug and flirtatious.

Oh, he really liked this. 

“Did he, now?”, the genius questioned, doing his best to appear innocent when he was anything but. 

“Hmm. I do wonder though…” The sentence ended with Stephen resting his head on the back of the couch, staring at the ceiling for a moment before closing his eyes. “It’s a very obscure explanation.” 

It had gotten dark outside in the meanwhile, the wind lashing loudly against the little lodge. However, the hut itself was more than just warm thanks to the lovely fire. Or it might just be Tony. 

“Care to share it with me?”, he asked in a whisper. When Stephen failed to answer except for a short hum he turned towards him and rested his arm on the back of the couch as well, using his hand to support his head. 

“I’m not sure if you could figure out what he meant by that.” The tall man’s eyes were still closed. “It was very confusing.” He looked so peaceful even with all the cuts covering his face. The lines around his eyes were less visible and his mouth wasn’t set in a straight line anymore.    
  
This lodge was really working wonders on stressed out people.

“Hm, given my reputation as a genius, I think I might be able to help you with that though.”, Tony suggested dreamily, eyes never leaving the sorcerers stunning face, not even when his own did open at last.    
  
He was done playing games.  

“He, well, how did he word it? He implied that you are-” Stephen sighed, pretending to overthink the sentence yet again but Tony beat him to it.    
  
“Totally and utterly smitten with you?” Stephen’s eyes grew big, head whipping around to stare at him. The other man just shrugged. “I can’t see where he gets that idea from, to be honest.” 

The sorcerer smirked. “Like I said: Obscure, isn’t it?”, he whispered and lifted one hand to Tony’s face, repeating the same action the genius had done earlier by brushing a few locks out of his face.

“Totally.”, he replied with an uncommonly husky voice. But then again, it was uncommon for Stephen to touch his face, or him in general. Not to say that it wasn’t the best feeling in the world.    
  
“He also said-”, the tall man continued while letting his hand travel down towards his neck and setting off goosebumps in the process. “-that I was an idiot for not noticing it since mentioned person made it more than obvious.” 

Tony could have purred like a cat getting milk, for that warm and enormous hand was making itself a home at the nape of his neck, softly stroking and brushing it. “Hm…”, he managed to get out at last. “I guess you were.” 

This wasn’t fair, Stephen was having a massive advantage, distracting him effectively and turning his whole body into liquid.    
  
“I guess so.”, came the smug reply, Stephen now grabbing him by the shoulder and pushing him onto his back. He had no idea where this was going but dear god, he didn’t want it to end. So, he let himself fall back, hitting the couch with a dull  _ thump  _ and watching the man now towering above him with interest.

“But I think that good old Wong actually missed an important aspect in all of this.” He was close now, really close and leaning over him. Tony could feel his breath on his cheek. 

“And what would that be?”, he panted out between short breaths. 

Stephen dropped his head next to his ear and hissed “That it might not be as one-sided as he thinks it is.” before softly biting his earlobe.    
  
“Stephen!”, Tony gasped, the name almost unrecognisable on his quivering lips. His hands flew up and grasped the sorcerers back, nails digging into the soft clothes. 

The pressure finally caused the other man to react with a slight hitch in his breathing. It only lasted a moment though and then he was his composed self again and dragging his face down Tony’s neck, nose brushing the soft skin from time to time. 

“So…”, Tony pressed out at last. “You don’t mind… me?” Christ, did he sound stupid. What answer did he expect? Stephen wouldn’t be nibbling- oh god, yes he was nibbling- at his neck if he did mind. Yet, he still needed verbal approval. 

The man in question seemed to agree, by the way he was chuckling and smiling into his neck. “Oh, not at all, Anthony.” Another kiss, this one softer, more tender. “Not at all.”

“I like it more when you call me Tony.”

“Do you?”

“Mhmm.”

Stephen lifted himself up a bit, blue-green eyes staring down at him and making him shiver. They were darker than usual. “I have to keep that in mind, then.” His voice was deep and rough, nothing short of perfect.

Tony hoped that he would. 

All the teasing was nice and exciting but there was one thing he longed more than anything for and it was time that he finally made a move himself. His hand flew up, roughly grabbing Stephen’s collar and pulling him down again. Their lips crashed together, Tony trying to control the kiss but soon surrendering to the other man.

If he had any brain cells left to think he would have told himself to get a grip. 

But Stephen’s tongue was just too talented. How could he resist? His fingers wound themselves in the soft black curls of the sorcerer, softly pulling his head to the side to get better access to his mouth. He was very careful, the memory of Stephen’s injuries still in his mind somehow. 

Not that he seemed to be in any pain at the current time, judging by the sounds he was making. Oh yes, beautiful sounds indeed. 

They seemed to lay there for hours, basking in the other's presence until Tony finally managed to break off the kiss. His mouth was full of a taste which was completely  _ Stephen _ .

“Remind me to fall on my knees and thank Wong when we get back.”, he murmured with a bright smile. He couldn’t believe how much he owned the grumpy sorcerer. 

“ _ If _ we get back.”, Stephen retorted with a smirk. “I don’t plan to do so anytime soon.” He was about to capture his lips again but Tony stopped him with a controlling hand on his chest. 

“You are forgetting yourself.”, he scolded him. “I have a company to run and you have a Sanctum to clean.” Very carefully, as to not hurt him, he let his thumb slide over a smaller cut on Stephen’s face. “I tend to believe that you aren’t in that much pain anymore.”

The sorcerer huffed, a disbelieving look crossing his face. “And here I was thinking you have been waiting months for this moment.” He pouted and tried to get up but Tony quickly trapped him with his legs around his back. 

“Easy there, Steph’.”, he whispered. “Don’t believe that I haven’t ‘cause Christ, I have.” He paused for a moment, choosing the following words carefully. “It’s just… I have a rather long and tedious history of rushing things.” He swallowed. “Or completely fucking them up. I just don’t want this to be another thing I’ll regret.”

He hadn’t intended to be that brute and honest but maybe it wasn’t so bad. Trust, that was certainly something he had to learn and it looked like this would be a good start since Stephen smiled softly at him after he finished his rambling.

“It’s fine, Tony.”, he soothed him. “I don’t want you to regret this either.” He leaned down and gave him one last kiss before attempting to stand up again and this time Tony let him, untangling his legs and dropping them on the floor.    
  
“There is something else we need to talk about though.”, Stephen explained, hands crossing in front of his chest and eyes fixing on his face. The genius froze. “Steph’. That’s a no go, Tony.” He couldn’t help the laugh that forced his way out of his mouth. 

Oh yes, he definitely had to thank Wong once they got back but for now, it was enough to sit on his couch and watch the beautiful man in front of him. At last, he got the hint. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are! This wasn't that long of a ride but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. I certainly had much fun writing and editing it.   
> There is actually a not quite finished 5th chapter which is... a bit more explicit but I am not sure whether I should post it. So, this will be all for the moment.  
> Thank you so much for reading this!


End file.
